Hola amigos.

Well it's been almost a week since leaving Australia - wow time flies. Our first 4 nights were in Barcelona and we are now in Lloret de Mar for 5 night.

BARCELONA : What an amazing city. The cosmopolitan capital of Spain known for it's art and architecture, even when you aren't looking for it you will find it. A mix of old and new, rich vs poor, siestas and fiestas. Our apartment was very centrally located in the heart of Barcelona in an area called Eixample. A short stroll down the street and we stumbled upon Casa Batillo (one of Gaudi's wierd and wacky buildings). A colourful facade teamed with wave-shaped window frames and balconies reveal Gaudi's excentric style. A little further down the street and we hit Placa de Catalunya, the huge central plaza of Barcelona where all the main streets and avenues of the city merge. Teaming with tourists, locals, buskers, beggers and theives, oh and of course, thousands of pigeons. The girls absolutely loved the vibrance of this square and of course feeding the pigeons. Skye mastered the knack for feeding the pigeons but Jade couldn't quite handle their sharp claws and jolty movements and as for Ruby, well she just chased them, patted them and then started kicking them!

The next day we took a stroll down the famous 'La Rambla'. Another large boulevard lined with high end shops, souveneir stores, street performers and the famous 'La Boqueria' market place. This place was a feast for the eyes with the freshest of fruit and veg, spices, sweets and an abundance of cured meats 'jamon' on display. If only we didn't have kids with sore feet begging us to go home Trent and I would have loved to have settled down on a bar stool and enjoyed some of the cold local beer and tapas on offer. Instead we opted for nutella and marshmellow crepes for the kids and takeaway empanadas for us. Still not a bad option.

Day 3 we visited the science museum Cosmo Caxia. The kids enjoyed the numerous displays and hands on activites.

LLORET DE MAR : Certainly a slower pace than Barcelona. Don't get me wrong this place is teaming with tourists (english hen and stag do's a plenty) but it's tiny narrow stone paved streets give it that slow paced feeling. Cafes, restaurants and bars and all corners and souvenir shops on the opposing. We are in a small apartment right on the beach and the main strip. Every weekend in Spain seems to be a festival of some sort and yesterday we stumbled upon a parade with loud music and dancing in the streets. The kids danced along with the parade joyously.

Today our Australian friends who live in Spain came to visit us. Matt, Johanna and their 4 boys Ethan, Isaac, Cameron and Jason joined us for a fabulous day at the beach. The water temperature is still a little cold for us adults but the kids certainly didn't mind. I enjoyed a run along the shoreline today. A windy path up and around the cliffs to the north of the beach and past the ruins of the 'Castell d'en Plaja' made for some fantastic views. It's 10:30pm at the moment and Trent is still out with the Skye and Jade enjoying some street entertainment that I can hear from our apartment. Ruby on the other hand fell asleep around 5pm exhausted from a big day in the sun, let's hope she sleeps through the whole night. So as you can see the kids are still trying to get use to the late sunsets and the Spanish way of life.